Prince Ugly Duck
by Isabella vi Britannia
Summary: One shot. Kenshin was an ugly boy when he befriended a girl named Tomoe, but what happened when she met him again, now a beautiful but hurtful young man?R&R please.


**Prince Ugly Duck **

**By: Ran Ohki**

AN: I got this idea from my sister's manga. Kenshin/Tomoe pairing. Mainly focus on Kenshin's POV. And Kenshin's age is reduced to 17 years old!

**I Don't 'Like' You, But I Love You... **

In the fairytale "The Ugly Duckling", the little duckling was shocked to see that he had turned into a beautiful swan... And I did expect that to happen... Because that duckling was in fact a beautiful swan... But for a very ugly duck...no matter how long time flies...it will always be an ugly duck... One girl who's also my only friend, Tomoe...she was the only one who doesn't care about this horrid look of mine...

"_Ceh! All my friends in class said that with this ugly look of mine, I'm not worthy to be a violinist... they said I could ruin a violinist's image..."_

"_No way! I think that you do have that talent of playing the violin...I'll always support you no matter how many people loathe it!"_

_"Tomoe...I want to give you something..." _

'KRIIIIIIIIIIIING!'

It happened 7 years ago... All of it feels like a dream... But now, everything's changed...I'm no longer the ugly duck who's always get picked on... That morning, I decided to forget about the dream I've been having for three days, but what I didn't realize was that a girl was shouting for someone, or something. Suddenly, something furry fell on my head.

'Meow...'

"Oh, I'm so sorry...that's my cat. I'm really really sorry." From the moment I saw the girl, I thought to myself, could I really forget that very dream? The relationship I cherished so much for such a long time... could I really forget it that easily?

"Hey yo, Kenshin! What's with the sad face? Got any probs?" a friend, Sanosuke asked me that afternoon at a café where we work: me, him, Aoshi and Saitou. I said lamely, "Yeah, I do have one, but you can't help me in that..." "Why you...! You dare to underestimate me...!" he started to rap my head. I went, "Ow! Ow! Ouch! Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I'll tell you!" He stopped. I continued, "I saw Tomoe just this morning!"

"You mean the girl that you loved?!" "Yea, there's no way I could be mistaken!" "Did she remember you?" "No!"

I'll never forgive her...

I'll never forgive Tomoe who betrayed me... A week passed ever since I met Tomoe once more...and my life's still the same... At those times, I rejected all the letters sent by my fans... There's just one thing that's really unusual...these few days...I was followed by a certain girl... When I hid myself behind a wall and saw the girl, I couldn't believe it... It was...

Tomoe? Is she in love with me? That bitch! I decided to grab her...

"You...why do you keep following me these few days?" She was so shocked, she screamed.

_I never wanted to bond any relationship with you anymore... I want to forget you..._

"You're the girl from the other day, right? You got a problem?"

"Well... Actually, I was looking for my old friend. He's very talented in playing the violin...but I think he moved from here. You...look a lot like him...except that he..."

"Enough... I think you have the wrong person. I don't even know you..."

"Sorry..."

But what bothered my heart was seeing her red ribbon...as if there was something that I forgotten... Tomoe... What were you really thinking there?

"What a bore waiting back there...there's nothing interesting happened!" I heard Aoshi's voice and Saitou sighed. Suddenly, Sano put his hand on my head as he said, "By the look on your face, I'd say you still love her. What _were_ you trying to do there?" Suddenly, he took out a photo of someone. _MY OLD PHOTO!_ "And don't you go playing dumb! From what she told you, it's obvious that she was looking for her friend, the ugly duck!" He flamed me directly into my face. At that moment, I wanted to kill him...!

"You goddamn bastard! You dared to steal my photo?! I guess you're not afraid to die then, eh?" Sano got a little too scared. "W-w-w-wait just a sec...this photo fell at the café yesterday...! I just picked it up for you...! Hey yo...relax, dude! I mean, you gotta be honest with your own feelings, man!"

... Maybe Sanosuke _was_ right... All this time, I still love Tomoe... But then...ever since she left me...I never played the violin again...

"I love hearing you playing the violin, Kenshin!" All went fine that day... Until that accident happened...

_"Kenshin...wait..." _

"_It's okay, I'll get it for you..."_

_------------------------'CRASH!!"-------------------------_

Because of the accident, my face was severely injured and I had to have a surgery... After a year, I woke up... My face has changed back then, and so as my life... At that time, the nurse said that she'd never seen a girl come to visit me all this time... Maybe I've changed into a beautiful swan...but my heart was a little too hurtful... Because Tomoe has betrayed me...she left me without a word...

'PRAK!'

One string from the violin's broken... Something's wrong...

"Kenshin?"

Her?! Why?!

"I'm sorry, but your door wasn't locked...and I heard your violin...Kenshin...! Don't you remember me...? Why...why's your face..."

"Shut up! I already told you! I don't know you, ever!"

"But...that song...that's the same song you played for me all those years...!"

"Enough...don't say anymore...just look at me... If you really care for me, why didn't you visit me at the hospital back there? Who did you think is the cause of that accident?! You're just the same as the others...messing up with my feelings...not only that, you even betrayed me!"

"No! That's not true! I didn't even know any of those! At that time, I was gonna tell you that I have to leave to Europe...but then, you never got back after you picked up that ball...so I had to..."

"Just suss it, Tomoe! I don't wanna hear any of your excuses! And why would you go looking for me again anyhow?!"

"Because...because I like you..."

"That still didn't change anything, Tomoe... And you don't have to go lying to me like that again!"

'SLAP!'

What...?!

"If I knew you'd be like this, Kenshin, I shouldn't have accepted this ribbon and the promise you made to me!"

Promise?!

"Tomoe!" This ribbon...!

"_This ribbon will always and for ever keep us together!"_

"_Wow..!"_

What have I done? All this time, I always thought that Tomoe had forgotten me... Argh! I can't believe that I was the one who forgot our promise! I have to get back the happiness I lost all this time... Then, I saw her...

"Eh? Why are you still here?"

"Give it back...give my ribbon back... You're not the Kenshin I know before...so that ribbon is meaningless to you...you better give it back..."

"Tomoe, give me your hand." I tied one end of the ribbon on my pinkie. Then, I tied the other end on hers. She was a little surprised. "Kenshin...this...!"

"_Tomoe, in fairy tales, if two people tie their finger together with a red ribbon, they'll stay together for ever...!"_

"_Really, Kenshin? Then, let's live together!"_

"_Right! No matter what happens, we'll always live together!"_

"Tomoe... I know I don't 'like' you, but...

I Love You, Tomoe!

---The End---


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